Children are usually elated or excited over the news of a holiday while many parents look forward to the school holidays as an opportunity to make time to bond with their children.
It’s very important parents engage their children in some fun and educational activities over the holidays.
If you are a parent and you’re tired of repeating the same activity with your kids during the holidays? Here’s a variety of activities you can try out this holiday.
- Play inside games like hide and seek with your children.
- Go for a drive in the car: You can drive your kids around your city, this will make them familiar with their environment.
- Let your child visit a friend’s house (or invite a friend over to play at your place). This will help them build friendships and let them know you support their friendships.
- Have a movie night in your house. You can make your own popcorn cups by making a cone shape with a piece of paper and taping it together.
- You can tell your kids stories at night while watching a full moonlight or the stars.
- Make your kids learn new skills: Look for workshops in art and drama you can enrol your kids during the holiday.
- Go for a train ride: Many Nigerian kids do not have an experience of this. However with recent development in the railway system, this should be a must try.
- Teach your children how to properly ride a bicycle. Don’t forget to buy the safety kits alongside the bicycle.
- Create a Puppet show at home: You can make your own puppet show at home too! All you need do is to collect socks you´re no longer using and get creative with it.
- Play board games like Scrabble and Chess with your kids to help them improve their thinking capacity and vocabulary.
- Go window shopping with your kids. However, before doing this, make sure you have some persuasive skills to pacify your child when he sees things he likes and can’t get them.
- Let them have an experience of what a local market looks like as compared to the supermarket.
- Take them to a swimming class: This is a water safety skill that will help your child a whole lot!
- Let them do their simple laundries themselves e.g. underwear. This should be done under your supervision.
- Be crafty at home: You can teach your child how to knit, do some paper craft or painting.
- Look for organised school holiday opportunities at art schools.
- Visit the beach and collect sea shells. You can also buy some fresh fish or sea food from the locals to educate your child about Marine creatures.
- Go see an animated movie in the cinema, your children will love this experience.
- Fly a kite: Design a kite together, test it, then look for ways to make it fly higher and last longer. This activity will create an opportunity for you to illustrate how the aeroplane easily moves with the flow of the wind.
- Have a picnic outside with your family during your free time.
- Visit a park or playground with your children.
- Visit a museum: This not only a fun activity but also an educational one. It will make your child have an idea of past events.
- Make a photo book with your child: Take photos of your child’s favourite things and collate them into a book.
- Dance to the music. This could be a form of exercise for the family.
- Play dress ups and do a play. You can help bring to life the actor in them.
- Buy a note book and get your child to write a school holiday diary or draw pictures.
- Reorganise the children’s room with their help.
- Go see a stage play or theatre performance.
- Write a letter to someone: If your kids can write, let them practice by writing about their areas of interest to their favourite uncle, aunt or any relative.
- Colouring: You can print variety of colour sheets online or buy colour books with crayon to keep your child busy during the holidays.
- Let your child experience face painting whenever they attend a party. Don’t forget to take photographs of them too.
- Paint toe nails or decorate their fingernails and toe nails with stickers. It’s part of the fun things they‘ll love to do.
- Use craft stuff to create a pair of “Slippers”.
- Make a paper plane.
We hope you find these activities helpful. Keep in mind to have fun while doing them.
What are some of your best school holiday activities for kids? What do you and your kids have planned for the school holidays? Share with us the comment box below.
